Who Do You Think Of? (When You're Lonely)
by Magic Malcolm
Summary: It all started with two out-of-place action figures...causing Finn Bálor's imagination to go off in a slightly unexpected direction. There's a realisation to be had, and Finn is perilously close to figuring it out...enter one of Finn's most trusted friends to give him that final nudge in the right direction. A friend who certainly isn't afraid of asking the hard questions...


"There, all nice and tidy..."

Finn grinned to himself, stepping back from the shelves that housed his action figure collection to admire his handiwork. He had made it a point to try and collect as many as his friends' figures as they came out, as well as picking up any of his old favourites that came out.

The display was _finally_ perfect.

Finn had pretty much been left to his own devices and had decided he had spent his time alone wisely. Sami was off for yet another check-up for his shoulder injury, and this time Bayley had drawn the short straw to drive him in for his appointment.

Grin still in full force, Finn retreated to his bed to grab his phone to take a picture of his handiwork for social media. It wasn't until he was pointing his phone at the display that he noticed something... _off_ about it. Placing the phone down on his bed, Finn squinted slightly at the display. The figures were placed about the same distance apart from each other...except for two. There, smack bang in the middle of the whole menagerie, were his Sami Zayn figure proudly holding aloft his replica NXT Title, and the action figure of himself that Sami had given him after coming home from the Beast In The East special in Japan. He wasn't wholly surprised that he'd choose his Sami figure to be the centrepiece, being Sami was his de facto best mate in Florida, but it was a little strange that he'd placed the two figures so close together. It threw the whole display off...the symmetry was now non-existent...

Their little plastic hands were almost touching.

 _'Closest I'll get to the real thing...'_

Finn blinked in surprise at that sudden thought.

 _'Where'd THAT come from?'_

Same place a lot of his thoughts had been coming from lately. Helping to take care of Sami during throughout his shoulder injury hadn't even been a question in Finn's mind. Sami had been gracious enough to let him stay in this apartment; it was only fair to help out a little more during Sami's recovery process. This came with the bonus of the two bonding even more than before, although Sami was determined not to let himself rely on Finn too much and Finn always asked Sami if he needed any help before jumping in guns-a-blazing.

Sami had been utterly frustrated that he couldn't even do a simple thing like getting dressed on his own to start with, and when Sami had nowhere to be on a given day he'd just refuse to put a top on out of stubbornness. Sure, Finn had seen Sami in various states of undress in the locker rooms…but seeing Sami just casually wander around their home with his chest fuzz on full display just seemed far too intimate a sight to behold. Had Finn known exactly how often he'd have to deal with a half-naked Sami Zayn during this process, he may have thought twice about being so eager to help…or _possibly_ jumped at the call to help even quicker. It really depended on how Sami was feeling that day.

They'd started cooking together too, mostly out of necessity but Finn couldn't say he was put off by the idea of learning to cook Sami style. Sami would patiently direct Finn, with Finn throwing in some tricks and tips his mother had taught him back in Ireland. It was…nice. _Domestic_. Something relaxing to look forward to after a busy day training/rehabbing.

Finn eventually did double-take to himself when he realised he'd used the term 'domestic' to describe them. Thankfully it was while he was alone in his room and _not_ whilst Sami was using him as a makeshift body pillow as they watched Futurama.

…was Sami _always_ this cuddly around him?

Finn shook his head, trying to clear it a bit. _'This was silly...it was_ _ **just**_ _two action figures placed slightly incorrectly. Easy to fix.'_

 _'So..._

 _...just get up and move them apart..._

 _...but then they'd be lonely without each other...'_

"Okay, maybe I took a few knocks in training without even realising..." Finn muttered to himself, "This is nuts. See what happens when left home alone for too long...maybe it's time to look into getting a pet again…"

Finn sighed to himself, looking down at the discarded phone. He really needed to talk to somebody about this...

Somebody who was used to his bizarre thought processes yet neutral enough to be an unbiased third party. That ruled out his family and **all** of his co-workers.

Somebody who wasn't even in the country and couldn't _actually_ intervene, perhaps?

Finn smiled as he browsed his contacts list…mentally calculating time zone differences in his head before hitting the call button.

"Hey Devitt, my man, what's up?"

"Hiya Karl," Finn grinned at Karl Anderson's jovial greeting, "Not interruptin' anything, am I?"

"Very few things I'd put above talking to one of the brothers," Karl replied, sincerity overflowing from every word.

After a few minutes of small talk ("How's the wife?" "Still hot" "Of course…" "She sends her love"), Finn finally found the nerve to bring up his situation, "I've, uh, actually got a bit of a problem I'd like to talk about…"

Karl's chuckles interrupted Finn, "Did you try turning it off and on again?"

"Look, just because I can't Google correctly does **NOT** mean I'm useless with computers!" Finn sighed in exasperation, "Have you not _seen_ my Photoshop masterpieces?"

"Sorry man, what's the deal?"

"…well, it's about the guy I'm living with…you know, Sami Zayn…"

"You _may_ have mentioned him once or twice, yes," Karl laughed softly.

"I don't talk about him _that_ much, do I?" Finn asked, frowning slightly.

"Seems like every other conversation we've had since you sold your soul to the McMahons has been about Señor Zayn," Karl's reply was nonchalant, much to Finn's surprise, "I'm half expecting you to call up telling me to dust off my tux…wait, **are** you…?"

"No! We're not…together, not like that…" Finn trailed off with a sad little sigh, "…but I think I want us to be? Maybe?"

"And that's the problem?" Karl sounded deep in thought, "You _might_ have feelings for your roomie?"

"…yeah."

"So you want some help trying to figure yourself out?" Karl finished.

"Yeah…I mean, what if what I'm feeling is just residual effects of helping to take care of Sami?" Finn drew his knees up to his chest, "Is it just a case of me being a papa bear?"

"Well, let's get the obvious question out of the way first," Karl chuckled lightly, "Do you think he's good looking? Are you attracted to him in any way shape or form?"

"Eh…I guess? I…never really thought about him in those terms before…" Finn paused, thinking seriously about the question. Sami's smile always lit up the room, and Finn always felt better for seeing one of Sami's happy expressions. Finn thought back to his earlier thoughts about the numerous amounts of half-naked Sami experiences he'd witnessed over the last few weeks…wondering briefly why he fixated on Sami's chest hair and what it would be like to run his fingers through it and _oh_ _dear_ , "I love seeing him smile…I like his hair and found it weird when he tried a buzz cut…he's all fuzzy and cuddly, yet solidly built…oh _shite_ , Karl…"

"I'll mark that down as a 'yes' then."

"Why'd you make me think about it?" Finn groaned, scraping his free hand down his face.

"You were the one who wanted to figure his feelings out," Karl replied nonchalantly, "Now…how do _you_ feel when you think of Sami?"

"Honestly…" Finn sighed, letting himself think of the individual in question…his lips curling up into a smile as he did, "…happy. Content. I think about him and feel all warm and snug inside."

"And when he's not around?"

"…it doesn't feel right," Finn admitted, "He went back home to Montreal to convalesce shortly after his surgery…it was _strange_ being alone here in the apartment. Obviously I missed him but…I 'unno…the atmosphere felt different? Like the life had been sucked out of the apartment? I guess I chalked that down to being used to him being around all the time, but now…now I don't know for sure?"

"Oh, Fergal Devitt, you have got it **bad** my friend," Karl laughed warmly, "Although there's one last question before I can say for certain…"

"I'm going to regret this, aren't I?" Finn groaned, awaiting his inevitable fate.

"Definitely," Finn could almost feel Karl's smirk through the phone, "In your…shall we say, _lonelier_ moments…do you think of him?"

"…I don't follow?" Finn scrunched up his nose.

Karl sighed dramatically, "Do you think of Sami when you have a wank?"

"Oh, I see…that's what you mea…" Finn stopped himself short as the question lodged itself into his head, his eyebrows shooting up and a hot flush beginning to creep up his face, " **KARL**! You _can't_ ask me that!"

"Sure I can, that's the advantage of being on the other end of a phone line," Karl laughed, "Answer the question Devitt, and remember that silence is as good as an admission."

" _No_ Karl, I don't think of Sami when I have a wank…God, that'd be disturbing as Hell…he's like my best mate here! He's worth far more than being reduced to… _that_. How'd I be able to look at him without feeling guilty if I used him as a fantasy like **that**?"

"Well congratulations Fergal, I'd say you definitely have _real_ feelings for one Sami Zayn."

"How the Hell do you figure that out from that fact I don't get off thinking about him?" Finn asked, exasperated.

"If it was just a physical thing you'd think of him, have a good orgasm and move on," Karl replied in a painfully straightforward tone, "But since you feel guilty over the mere _idea_ of that means there's _emotions_ involved."

"Oh." Finn suddenly found the ceiling very interesting…' _wait, was that a damp spot?'_

"Does that help any?" Karl asked, genuine concern in his tone.

"…I think so?" Finn frowned at the possible damp spot on the ceiling. ' _No, wait; it's not a damp spot…s'just a shadow…'_ "I mean…now that I've said all that out loud, it seems bloody obvious, doesn't it?"

More hearty laughter, "Considering I thought the two of you were dating before you even called today…"

"Dammit…" Finn groaned, before a slightly hysterical laugh bubbled up, "What do I do now…?"

"Knowing you? You'll probably sit on this information and do nothing until somebody _forces_ you to do something about it," Finn felt personally attacked at the painful truth his friend had just hit him with, "But at least you're beginning to figure it out, right? That's a start?"

"Yeah…yeah, it's a good start, I think?" Finn smiled sadly, "Maybe once Sami's rehab is over and I know it's definitely not just me being overprotective of him…maybe then'll be the time. I can't afford to rush something like this…Sami deserves someone who will love him unconditionally, and right now I'm not 100% sure that I can do that."

"If you can love him even half as much as you love wrestling, then I think he'd be the luckiest man alive," Karl replied cheekily, "Just keep me up to date for when I'll need that tuxedo."

"If that day ever comes, then you'll be….well, at least one of the first ten people to know," Finn attempted to match Karl's cheeky tone, but the underlying fondness for his friend undercut it somewhat, "Thanks for hearing me out, Karl. Been a right load off my mind."

"Like I said, anything for one of the brothers."

"Too sweet, my friend…" Finn smiled.

"Too sweet, indeed," Karl replied, "Catch you later, bro."

"Later," Finn sighed happily as Karl hung up, finally letting himself relax on the bed.

It _was_ a lot of information to take in. Finn sighed, scratching the back of his head in confusion. There'd be plenty of time to process everything later. _Focus on Sami getting better…worry about being NXT Champion for now…_ Finn let out a small breath and nodded to himself in affirmation, looking over at the display of action figures once again…smiling slightly once upon focusing on the tiny Sami and lil' Finn taking centre stage.

… _maybe it was time to admit that placing them like that_ _ **wasn't**_ _accidental after all…_

Finn smiled goofily to himself, pointing his camera at the display and taking the photo. With one last nod of approval, Finn quickly posted the picture to his Twitter.

 _' **iLikeSamiZayn** is still champion where it matters, even whilst on the shelf.'_


End file.
